In the Game; Spring Training

There's nothing like a great action film laced with social commentary to satisfy the need for blood, sweat, and tears and intellectual stimulation. In the Game, originally a Frontline episode, offers both as filmmaker Becky Smith takes viewers behind the scenes of Stanford's women's basketball team during the 1989-1990 season. With a keen eye for character and narrative, Smith introduces viewers to the gruff-voiced, mildly superstitious, and notably successful coach Tara VanDerveer, who turned a losing team with spotty attendance into a national contender playing to packed crowds in a few years. After recruiting a handful of players, led by the amazing Jennifer Azzi, VanDerveer's team was ready for a bid at the championship. Mixing locker-room talk and blistering court action (in one of the most slickly edited scenes, we watch the Stanford women strut their stuff while Aretha Franklin's "Respect" cooks on the soundtrack), In the Game deftly maintains the element of suspense crucial to great sports stories, while also looking at the individual personalities of the players. Underlying all the full-court presses and fast breaks, however, is a larger issue which the films keeps returning to: the underfunding and stigmatization of women's collegiate sports. Gender issues and pay equity are important topics, but they've never been this much fun to watch before. An outstanding film. [Note: In the Game is also being sold direct to individuals at $39.]Moving from the big ball inside to the little ball outside, Spring Training, a CINE Golden Eagle award winner by filmmaker Jim Ohm, traces the history of pre-season workouts from the first camp in 1896 in Hot Springs, AK to the retirement mecca of Florida, where--in Winterhaven--the Boston Red Sox annually hold their spring training. Combining old film clips, archival stills, and interviews with fans, managers, and players, Spring Training is a loving tribute to the game...with a bit of a bite (many people feel that greed has become the driving force behind the great American pastime). And, while Spring Training lacks the strong central story of In the Game, baseball enthusiasts (particularly Red Sox fans) will definitely enjoy this.Both In the Game and Spring Training are a little on the pricey side. Still, In the Game is highly recommended and an Editor's Choice, for those willing to spend the money. Spring Training, especially in light of the huge interest surrounding Ken Burns' epic Baseball, is recommended for larger sports collections. (R. Pitman)